oh Sylmar has one of the biggest juvenile detention centers in so cal and the biggest in la county
That was the threat that was used on every kid in foster care ("if you don’t like school or the food here theres always sylmar to try out ) because if they couldn’t place you anywhere you went there by default until they were sued anyways… by also I knew where it was located and had friends and relatives that went in and out but never went myself …
I once interview for a job in Sylmar.
Didn’t get it.
If I’m remembering a-right, you learned to fly at nearby Whiteman Airport, didn’t you? There’s always that to do.
If you have the time and inclination to go exploring on the weekend, try driving out Route 14 and then head out Route 138 (Pearblossom Highway) toward Palmdale/Lancaster/LittleRock/Victorville, and see all the real live Joshua trees! 
Then, on a side road in the outback near a micro-town called Llano near Pearblossom, find Crystal Air Glider Port and go there for a visit.
Pic of glider with Joshua trees from the wiki page.
But if those classic cars float your boat (and they should!), note that there’s another classic car museum in Los Angeles, in the Wilshire/Fairfax area – the Peterson Automotive Museum. It’s also just a block or two from the La Brea Tar Pits. (IIRC, isn’t that also the vicinity of Exposition Park? Isn’t one of the retired Space Shuttles supposed to get parked somewhere around there? Has that happened yet?)
If you head east on the 210 Freeway, you will be in Sunland\Tujunga, which served as the fictional town of Charming on Sons of Anarchy.
Quite correct! You might be able to get an exploration flight on very short notice.
Senegoid has it pegged: [Peterson Automotive Museum] “It’s also just a block or two from the La Brea Tar Pits.”
Yep. I love visiting the Pits. But once again, it’s not exciting. More in the realm of interesting if you’ve never seen a natural tar pit. Also as before, it’s free and gets you outside.
P.S. For JohnnyLA. It is sometimes identified as “The Narrows.” This comes from the geography of the locality. The canyon that now holds the highway was called the narrows because it was the only way to get to L.A. from Newhall and Saugus.
I remember that one.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology is only an hour and a half away, 26 miles to the south in Culver City. MJT is part museum, part art installation/experience, part put-on. It’s on my bucket list, but every relative I’ve ever explained it to has decided it’s insane and I’m insane for wanting to go there.
Its hours are limited, so check before going.
Sylmar is rather close to Magic Mountain if you like thrill rides. The Getty isnt far. universal studios is right around the corner.
Sylmar is way far out there. The first thing that comes to my mind is wildfires–you can drive east on the 210 from there and see firsthand the devastation of the La Tuna fire (there’s like two or three miles of utterly charred hillsides right along both sides of the freeway).
You will have to drive to get anywhere. (There’s no there in Sylmar.) If you don’t have the Waze app on your phone, get it! It will help you navigate around the worst traffic.
Griffith park has some good hiking and is well maintained. For an interesting hike, I recommend walking through the old zoo grounds there. The current LA Zoo is good if you like animals. Of course, there’s real hiking everywhere in the hills surrounding and within LA, but despite being near/in the city many trails are not well maintained.
There’s the Hollywood area that can be fun to explore, but you will be fighting traffic to get anywhere. Slightly easier to get to is the Getty Museum (or Getty Villa). Great art. Oh, the Norton Simon in Pasadena has an excellent Impressionist collection of that’s your thing. There’s MOCA in downtown LA for more recent stuff.
If you want to avoid the worst of the traffic, consider the Ronald Reagan library out in Simi Valley. While it’s not completely apolitical, it’s not especially partisan. Very worth it for the 1980s history.
Yes to this, regardless of your political leanings, they have good exhibits, and you get to get your picture taken stepping out of the old Air Force One and waving.
